Ksulting surveyed 251 Managing Di- rectors, Partners and Vice Presidents in October and November of 2012. First, let’s compare last year’s pro- jections with this year’s reality. For the year that just ended, 75 percent of executives said they actually experi- enced growth, not quite the 91 that predicted it. And 39 percent said that growth was more than 10 percent. Again, that number falls short of the 54 percent who predicted it last year. As for forecasting 2013, the num- bers are positive, for sure, but not the over-the-moon variety we saw this time last year. According to our sur- vey, 80 percent of executives are pre- dicting revenue growth for 2013 and 48 percent say that revenue growth will be in excess of 10 percent. So, top-line growth is significant, but does the rebound make it all the way to bottom line? Some 65 percent of firm leaders reported improve- ments to their net profits in 2012. In 2013, 81 percent of firm leaders an- ticipate net profits will improve, while only 4 percent say net profits will be down. The other 15 percent reported anticipating no change in net profits. As part of the survey, we also
asked participants to rate how concerned they are about certain internal
and external issues. There we saw
some dramatic shifts year on year.

We begin the Outlook with an exclusive feature story with Bob Patton,
Americas Vice Chair of Advisory
Services for Ernst & Young. Patton
sat down with Consulting in December 2012 to discuss the historic journey the firm has been on the last five
years since re-establishing Advisory
as a stand-alone business.

We also spoke to 14 other leaders
from the top-notch firms across a
wide spectrum of the consulting industry. The leaders we spoke with
are predicting solid revenues in 2013
near or at double-digit growth. They
are confident. They are bullish on
the overall economy and the opportunities it presents for clients and
consulting firms.

This special 18-page section is our
effort to bring some clarity and closure to a tumultuous year, while also
setting the stage for what’s ahead this
year. While we all long for a sense of
calm and economic normalcy in
2013, that still doesn’t appear to be
in the cards at this point. However,
firm leaders seem more prepared for
the unknown, and as a result, are better equipped to handle what lies
ahead in the new year.

HO W DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR FIRM’S REVENUE WILL CHANGE?* HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR FIRM’S NET PROFITS WILL CHANGE?*